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Teen indicted in January homicide

Tavin Barlow was a changed man - having traded a criminal past for honest, hard work.

But Barlow's reformed life met an abrupt end this January when he was shot and killed inside his eastside Savannah home.

On Wednesday, family and friends got a first taste of justice: A Chatham County grand jury indicted Raheem Jamel Jackson, 18, for murder in the case.

Barlow, 38, was living with Jackson's mother in the 2200 block of Utah Street and had kicked Jackson out of the home a few months before the homicide, police said.

About 11 a.m. Jan. 31, Barlow went home from work and encountered Jackson, sparking a confrontation that ended in fatal gunfire, police said.

Jackson was picked up the next day for false statements and writings, but he now faces charges including malice and felony murder, aggravated assault, burglary and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.

To Barlow's twin sister, Taushalin Barlow, he will be remembered as a man who - despite his checkered past - raised three children, enrolled at Savannah Technical College and earned the praise and respect of colleagues.

"Once he turned himself around, all he did was work, and he enjoyed his jobs," she said of her brother, who worked at the Georgia Ports Authority and St. Joseph's/Candler Hospital. "Everybody was so proud of Tavin."

After moving to Savannah more than two decades ago from Kentucky, Barlow also enjoyed celebrating the Fourth of July with fireworks, playing football and grilling out, she said.

"He had a lot of friends, but he didn't have to be in the limelight," Taushalin Barlow said. "He was very quiet, mild-tempered and (kept) to himself."

In addition to his own children, Tavin Barlow helped raise four nephews and three nieces.

Friend Rudolph Warner said Barlow's death will affect those young people the most.

"This loss is major. People aren't looking at the big picture - 10 years from now, where will those boys' souls be?" Warner said not long after the shooting. "A young black man growing up in the world without a father? The pain for those kids is going to be rough."

Brendan Barlow, one of Tavin Barlow's nephews, said he'll particularly miss the times his uncle dropped by for unannounced visits.

"He was a good person," Brendan Barlow said, "and he didn't deserve to go the way he went."